China reported on Wednesday its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in two weeks, bolstering a forecast by Beijing's senior medical adviser for the outbreak in the country to end by April - but fears of further international spread remained.

Independent scientists questioned research on Friday that suggested that the outbreak of coronavirus disease spreading from China might have passed from bats to humans through the illegal traffic of pangolins

The Singapore Airshow, Asia's biggest aerospace gathering, will go ahead as planned next week despite China's virus epidemic prompting some firms to pull out, but a key meeting of aviation officials has been cancelled

A total of 239 Australians evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan have been cleared of the coronavirus, with two remaining facing only a "minimal" chance that they have the virus, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Tuesday.

Hours ticked by on Saturday as 50-year-old Lu Yuejin struggled to get past the police checkpoint on the bridge over the Yangtze river and out of Hubei province, which is on virtual lockdown as China scrambles to control a coronavirus outbreak.

The United States and Japan flew nationals out of China's virus epicentre on Wednesday and some big-name airlines suspended flights as deaths leapt to 133 and a senior economist predicted a major impact on growth.